TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The Financial Services Authority (OJK) has received around 40,000 reports regarding financial service providers since earlier this year up to May. “Ten percent of them are complaints,” said OJK’s consumer protection department chief Anto Prabowo on Monday. The OJK will conduct verification on the 10 percent.

One of the verification measures is by reviewing the reports. The OJK will return the complaints if the complainants have not submitted the complaints first to the financial service providers.

“Complaints must be settled first by financial service providers,” said Anto. If consumers are not satisfied with the settlement, they can report it to the OJK.

Anto said most of the complaints, around 60 percent, were aimed at banking institutions, 20 percent comprised information from the public to the OJK and the rest were requests for information. “For example, people inform that 262 companies have no licenses.”

OJK commissioner Kusumaningtuti S. Soetiono previously said moving public funds through Mavrodi Mondial Money Box (MMM) was potentially harmful to the public because the MMM’s activities were similar to money game and bereft of the necessary license from the authorities.

According to Kusumaningtuti, in the last two years, the OJK has received 235 reports questioning the legality of MMM’s activities. Thus, she advised the public not to participate in those activities because MMM’s organizational structure and accountability did not meet the the required principles.

“People are told to deposit Rp1 million and are promised Rp300,00 in profit, but it is highly dependent on new applicants,” said Kusumaningtuti.

SINGGIH SOARES